The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced the positive identification of human remains discovered in 2019 in Loudon County as belonging to John Arthur Troutman, born January 1, 1952, and originally from Herndon, Pennsylvania.
The remains were found in August 2019 by a Tennessee Department of Transportation mowing crew working alongside Interstate 75 near Philadelphia, Tennessee. The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Knox County Regional Forensic Center, began an investigation. Forensic pathologists at the time determined the remains were of a man estimated to be between 45 and 55 years old, but a cause of death could not be determined, nor could an identity be established.
In February 2024, the Knox County Regional Forensic Center requested assistance from the TBI’s Cold Case and Unidentified Human Remains Initiative. A sample of the remains was submitted to Othram, a private DNA lab in Texas, for advanced testing. In July 2024, Othram scientists identified possible relatives, prompting a TBI intelligence analyst to locate and contact family members in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The family revealed they had not seen their older brother since the 1980s. DNA samples provided by the family confirmed the remains to be those of John Arthur Troutman.
Near the body, investigators found a 2010 Pennsylvania Tourism and Transportation map, and earlier reports from the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office suggested Troutman may have been homeless and camping in the area before his death. His exact cause of death remains undetermined.
Authorities are still seeking public assistance to learn more about what brought Troutman to Loudon County and the circumstances leading up to his death. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office at 865-986-4823 or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
The TBI credited Congressman Tim Burchett’s Community Project Funding request for making the DNA testing that led to this identification possible.
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